My 2018 Year in Review
I’m pretty sure I say this every single year and you’re probably going to be bored of hearing it by now, but let me just say it anyway… How the HELL are we at the end of 2018? Like seriously, HOW? I feel like I blinked in January and then when I opened my eyes we had skipped straight to December. It is beyond crazy how fast this year has gone! I always like to take some time at the end of each year to reflect on how the past 12 months have gone, so I’m going to do a little round up for you. 2018 has not been a particularly good year for me to be honest, I have found it really tough and, at times, I have really struggled. In the past 12 months my dog has passed away, my grandad has died, my nan went into hospital and we very nearly lost her, my best friend has been in and out of hospital battling a serious health condition, and I was told I was being made redundant from my current role at work. On top of all of that, I found myself in hospital twice after becoming quite seriously ill, and just last week my dad was rushed into hospital after doctors found a blood clot on his lung. Yep, it’s safe to say that this year has been pretty damn awful, so it comes as no surprise that I’m not feeling particularly enthusiastic about putting together my end of year review. There were some good times though, don’t worry, I will try not to be a Negative Nancy for this entire post 😉 I had some incredible highs and I’ve managed to travel to some more brilliant places, but sadly most of these have been overshadowed by the rubbish lows that have happened this year. If you’ve been following my blog for a while, you’ll know that 2017 was such a fantastic year for me, and I put together a ‘highlights’ type post for my end of year review, but this year I just didn’t feel like I had ’18 highlights from 2018’ so thought I would just do a generic round up instead. I’ll also be discussing how I got on with my 2018 New Year’s Resolutions, so here’s everything laid out bare for you, including the good, the bad and everything else in between!…
January & February
The first part of the year was probably the worst for me. Just before Christmas we said goodbye to our beloved Westie Cassie, who had been our family pet from a pup, and we were still finding it really difficult to come to terms with losing her as 2019 started. I did celebrate my 25th birthday in January though, and this kind of felt like a turning point for me, and a bit of a milestone in my little life. To be honest I was really apprehensive about turning 25, I always thought I’d have my life figured out by the time I reached this age. I thought I’d have a house and kids and a husband, just like my mum and my nans did, and the fact I didn’t have any of these things made me reaallly sad, so I felt like a bit of a failure. I got over it though, and made myself realise that things are so different nowadays, and that I should be proud of the things I HAVE got, not what I haven’t got. February was a pretty quiet month, I spent most of it at home seeing friends and training for Mount Snowdon, which I was due to climb in June. I also spent a weekend in Essex seeing my nan which was really lovely, especially as she became poorly in March.
March & April
The start of March wasn’t too exciting, but I had a great end to the month as my sister and I went on a European inter-railing trip together and had a brilliant week away. We spent the Easter weekend in Paris before heading on to Luxembourg and Bruges where we had a really lovely time exploring new cities and enjoying allllll the French/Belgian food and drink. Sadly a week after we returned from our trip we received the devastating news that our grandad had passed away after a long battle with Dementia. It didn’t necessarily come as a shock to us as he had been unwell for some time, but that still didn’t prepare us for the grief that we would feel in the days and weeks to come. 2 days later, my nan was taken to hospital after she had heart problems. Fortunately my dad was with her and paramedics were on the scene quick enough to help her, but I was convinced that we were going to lose both my nan and my grandad within a matter of days. It was horrendous but my family were amazing and we got through it together. It’s still hard even now, 9 months on, and I think about my grandad all the time, but I know he is at peace, and I hope he would be proud of who I have become. At the end of April I took my little sister on her first city break as we went to Pisa and Florence for a long weekend. I was lucky enough to win a raffle prize at work and got to stay in one of our amazing villas which was a fantastic experience, and this little break away after a tough few weeks was sooo needed. We had a great time visiting the famous Leaning Tower and enjoying all that Florence had to offer, so it definitely took our minds off the sadness that had been happening at home.
May & June
May saw the date for my grandad’s funeral, which was a really difficult day, but we remembered his life in our own special way and made it a celebration. The sun shone and it was a really hot day – he would have loved that, he absolutely lived for the heat and warm weather! I wrote a poem which I read out at the service; at one point I didn’t think I would be able to do it but I found the strength from somewhere and was able to deliver. We cried a lot, but we got through it, it was the perfect send off for an incredible man. Unfortunately a week later I ended up in hospital myself as I had an unexpected haemorrhage and suffered from some external bleeding. It was really scary and I had no idea what was happening, but the doctors who looked after me were brilliant and I was back home later on that evening. A week later I was back to my usual self and spent the bank holiday weekend running around Amsterdam and Rotterdam whilst exploring Holland for the first time. I was in the country to attend my 3rd annual Traverse conference in Rotterdam but was glad I tagged on a day in Amsterdam at the start too – I was reunited with one of my fave travel buddy’s Rachel and we had a blast! At the end of June I took on my biggest challenge yet as I set out to climb Mount Snowdon with 55 others as part of a fundraising event for The Pituitary Foundation, the charity I am extremely proud to be an ambassador for. We had the most incredible day and ended up raising over £25,000 collectively which is an absolutely AMAZING achievement. The climb was one of the highlights of my year and I’ve already signed up to do Ben Nevis next May… wish me luck!
July & August
July brought us a heatwave AND the World Cup which was the best combination for us Brits! What a rollercoaster us footy fans had as we watched our team get to the semi-finals of the biggest sporting competition on the planet. My summer evenings were spent watching the games on big screens down the pub and dancing on tables when we scored! July also so me heading to London with my mum to watch Michael Buble in concert (our fave) and my lovely nan came down to visit for the first time since my grandad passed away so it was great to spend some quality time with her. Unfortunately a few weeks later I became unwell again after I passed out at work and was taken to hospital on the back of an ambulance – I had suffered from a nasty bout of gastroenteritis and had no idea what was happening to my body, but again the NHS staff at my local hospital were amazing and I was back to normal a few days later. I also went on a blind date that was set up by Heart Radio a couple of weeks later, and that was certainly an experience!! August was the month I was most looking forward to this year, as I was due to set sail on my first ever cruise with 12 of my family members and I don’t think I’ve ever been so excited for a holiday! We had an absolute blast exploring 5 countries and 7 cities over 7 days as we visited Croatia, Montenegro, Greece, Italy and Malta. I totally fell in love with cruising – it has definitely opened my eyes to a new way of travel and I already can’t wait to book my next one!
September & October
My mum celebrated her 50th birthday in September and we had an amazing day out in London, taking her to Kensington Palace to see the Princess Diana Exhibition (her idol) before heading over to the Sky Garden with incredible panoramic views over the city below – she had a brilliant day out and it was so nice to spend some quality time together as a family. At the end of September my best friend and I took a spontaneous road trip to Bournemouth to celebrate the last weekend of summer. We were so lucky with the weather and spent 2 days enjoying the beach, the pier, the arcades and everything else in between. It felt so nice to have one last ‘holiday’ before autumn came and it made me realise how beautiful some parts of the UK really are when you get the right weather! After leaving Bournemouth we headed over to Lulworth Cove and Durdle Door for a day of hiking between the two and I was sooo sad to leave this pretty part of the world so am already planning to return next summer. October brought colder weather and some family time as I spent a weekend in Liverpool at my cousins baby shower, it was my last chance to see her and bump before she was due to pop in December, and we had a really lovely weekend. I also had lots of fun over the Halloween weekend as I fulfilled my life-long dream of becoming a mermaid (well a fancy dress one) as I hosted a spooky themed party at my house. By the end of the month I was ready for allllll the fireworks show as I looked forward to saying goodbye to October and hello to November.
November & December
I was fairly busy in November, with fireworks events and lots of autumnal fun with friends. I headed to London to watch Ed Sheeran and Olly Murs in concert – they were amazing – and stopped off at Westfield for some shopping. I did grown up things like submit my annual tax return and move some money around in my savings – I’m putting away a decent amount of money from my wages each month so that I can look to buy a house in the next few years, which is overwhelming, stressful and exciting all at the same time! Probably the single biggest thing I did in November was attend WTM London, where Journeys with Jessica was given its very own stand for the first time ever! I had such an amazing time at the biggest travel conference in the world and learnt so much, as well as getting my blogging mojo back after a few months of feeling like I didn’t really belong in this industry. I was invited along to the VIP press launch of Christmas at Blenheim at the end of the month and took my mum with me for a wonderful evening of festive fun. December isn’t over yet but so far I’ve done work parties, theatre evenings, nights out and Christmas markets. We are off to Somerset for a new year’s break with the family next week so, although we are having a quiet Christmas at home, I’m really looking forward to ending 2018 and starting 2019 on a high.
My 2018 New Year’s Resolutions: How I Got On
Visit at least 5 countries – SUCCESS – I managed to get myself to a whopping NINE countries this year, which is almost double what I set as a target so I am really pleased that I’ve done so well on this one. My cruise made it super easy as I actually visited 5 countries in just 1 week, and whilst I was out there I hit my 25th country as well which was an incredible feeling! Roll on the next 25!
Reach 10,000 followers on social media – FAIL – Sadly I didn’t reach the big 10k this year, but on my last count I was up to approx. 8700 followers across all platforms, so I am so close yet so far! This is a goal I will try to re-aim for next year, but I’m not going to put pressure on myself to reach it by a certain time frame; what will be will be!
Spend less time on social media – SUCCESS – I feel like I’ve done quite well at this one this year. I obviously do still spend a lot of time online in order to promote my blog, but I wanted to cut down on scrolling and wasting time being unproductive, and I definitely think I’ve done that. Turning off all my notifications have helped, and I’ve set a time limit of 25mins per day on each app which has made an improvement too, so it’s small steps but I’m definitely going in the right direction!
Work on new projects for The Pituitary Foundation – SUCCESS – I am so proud to be an ambassador for this fantastic charity, and 2018 was the year I really challenged myself and put more effort into this. Climbing Mount Snowdon with Team Pituitary was one of the biggest achievements of my life, and I couldn’t be more proud to be a pituitary patient! Roll on Ben Nevis next May!
Start saving at least £500 a month – SUCCESS – I’ve been super strict with my finances this year, so much so that I’ve now got over £10,000 in savings to my name which is something I am immensely proud of! The main reason I am saving is because I want to buy a house in the next couple of years, but I also plan to use some of that for travelling and taking some more trips throughout 2019 because you only live once and mortgages are boring 😉
Incorporate exercise into my weekly routine – SUCCESS – I have got better at this as the year has progressed, and am proud that I am now working out three times a week compared to doing virtually nothing (other than walking for an hour each day) at the start of 2018. Don’t get me wrong, I still HATE the gym but I do my workouts from home so that I can overcome this, and I don’t work out to lose weight, I just do it to feel good about myself.
Grow my blog as much as possible whilst working full time – FAIL – I kinda feel I haven’t done this very well this year. Yes my followers have grown and I have taken on new opportunities etc, but I haven’t been on a single press trip this year and, in my eyes, that makes me feel like a failure. I see bloggers left right and centre being paid to go on trips and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t jealous, but I guess nothing right has come up for me this year. WTM felt like a turning point as I got my blogging mojo back and definitely felt more inspired after making new contacts, so I’m looking forward to seeing how things go in 2019 for me.
What I want from 2019
Not sure where to start with this one, but what I do know is that I want 2019 to be my biggest and best year yet. I want to travel more, learn more, and be more spontaneous. I kinda played it safe this year as I struggled to come to terms with feelings of grief and uncertainty, but I really want to start next year differently and I want to push myself out of my comfort zone. I’m not sure where life will take me next year, but I’m currently setting some plans in motion ready to make 2019 really special. I’ll probably write a separate post in January with regard to my 2019 New Year’s Resolutions, but I am trying not to make too many promises to myself as I get older and as I learn to be more content with life. I’ll see what happens over the coming months, but watch this space for lots of new things coming soon to my little life, and to Journeys with Jessica!
Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Healthy New Year – thanks, as always, for continuing to share this little square of the internet with me – your support has been invaluable this year!
Love Jess x
